Mubarak intensifies press attacks with assaults, detentions

New
York, February 3, 2011--EgyptianPresident
Hosni Mubarak unleashed an unprecedented and systematic attack on international
media today as his supportersassaulted
reportersin
the streets while security forces began obstructing and detaining journalists
covering the unrest that threatens to topple his government.

"This is a dark day for Egypt and a dark
day for journalism," said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. "The systematic
and sustained attacks documented by CPJ leave no doubt that a
government-orchestrated effort to target the media and suppress the news is
well under way. With this turn of events, Egypt is seeking to create an
information vacuum that puts it in the company of the world's worst oppressors,
countries such as Burma, Iran and Cuba.

"We hold President Mubarak personally
responsible for this unprecedented action," said Simon, "and call on the
Egyptian government to reverse course immediately."

In the past 24 hours alone, CPJ has
recorded 30 detentions, 26 assaults, and eight instances of equipment having
been seized. In addition, plainclothes and uniformed agents reportedly entered
at least two hotels used by international journalists to confiscate press
equipment. On Wednesday, CPJ documented
numerous
earlier assaults, detentions, and confiscations. Mubarak forces have attacked
the very breadth of global journalism: Their targets have included Egyptians
and other Arab journalists, Russian and U.S. reporters, Europeans and South
Americans.

"The attacks on journalists, which began
last week, have now intensified to levels unseen in Egypt's modern history," said
Mohamed Abdel Dayem, CPJ's Middle East and North Africa program coordinator.
"We are concerned for the safety of our colleagues, and we're alarmed at the
prospect of these witnesses being sidelined at this crucial moment in Egyptian history."

Government officials, pro-government
journalists, and commentators loyal to Mubarak have for the past two days been
engaged in a systematic campaign to present foreigners, and particularly
foreign journalists, as spies. CPJ has documented at least seven instances on
state-owned television or on private stations owned by businessmen loyal to
Mubarak in which individuals described elaborate foreign plots to destabilize
Egypt that centered on foreign provocateurs, including journalists. In several
instances, they were described as "Israeli spies." In one instance, a woman
whose face was obscured "confessed" to having been trained by "Americans and
Israelis." She went on to say that the alleged training took place in Qatar,
where Al-Jazeera is based.

Here
is a round-up of attacks on the press:

The
Washington Post told CPJ that the paper's Cairo
bureau chief, Leila Fadel, and Linda Davidson, a photographer, were among a
number of journalists detained this morning. Their unidentified driver and
translator were also picked up, and the driver was beaten. Fadel and Davidson were
freed late today, but the status of the driver and translator was unclear.

Corban Costa of Brazilian Radio Nacional
and cameraman Gilvan Rocha of TV Brasil were detained, blindfolded, and had
their passports and equipment seized, according to Brazilian news accounts. The
two were reportedly held overnight without water in a windowless room in a
Cairo police station. An officer forced the reporters to sign a statement in
Arabic saying they would immediately leave Egypt for Brazil, reports said.
"We had to trust what he said, and sign the document, " Corban said. They said they
will be sent back to Brazil on Friday.

Polish state television TVP said
that five journalists working in two crews--Krzysztof Kołosionek and Piotr Bugalski; and Michał Jankowski, Piotr
Górecki, and Paweł Rolak--were detained in Cairo and that one
of their cameras was smashed. Krzysztof Kołosionek and Piotr Bugalski were released, according to Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza.

The
New York Times
reported today that two of its reporters were released after they were detained
overnight in Cairo.

Canadian Globe and Mail journalist Sonia Verma tweeted today that she was being taken "into
some kind of custody." She later reported that she was held by the military for
three hours.

CNN-IBN reported that video journalist
Rajesh Bharadwajm was "taken away" from Tahrir
Square by military forces. Bharadwajm's status was not immediately clear.

Maurice Sarfatti, who writes under the
name Serge Dumont, was arrested twice within the past day, according to a
statement from the daily Le Soir. The
Belgian
journalist, who was
freed late today, works for a number of European
publications.

A German freelance journalist was
briefly detained between Alexandria and Cairo, Frank-Dieter Freiling,a senior
vice president of ZDF-German Television, told CPJ in an e-mail.

Three Romanian TV crews were detained
Wednesday and Thursday in Cairo, according to Antena 3 producer Vlad Petreanu,
who e-mailed CPJ with details. On Wednesday, Adelin Petrisor, a reporter for
the state-owned broadcaster TVR, and an unnamed cameraman were detained by
Cairo police, searched, and later released. On Thursday, police detained
Realitatea TV reporter Cristian Zarescu and his unidentified cameraman.
Authorities confiscated their tapes before releasing them. Also on Thursday,
Antena 3 reporter Carmen Avram and cameraman Cristian Tamas, were stopped by
police. The men sent a text message late today saying they were being held for
questioning.

Rachel Beth Anderson, a freelance
videographer in Cairo, tweeted that "cameras
& phones disappearing from journo hotel rooms in the Semiramis hotel! We're
locked inside by staff who says its orders from outside."

Fox
News reported that correspondent Greg Palkot and producer Olaf Wiigwere
hospitalized after being beaten by protesters in Cairo.

The Swedish public broadcaster SVT
reported that its correspondent in Egypt, Bert Sundström, is recovering from
stab wounds to the stomach in a Cairo hospital. STV said it lost touch with
Sundström as he was reporting in Tahrir Square and when they finally reached
him on his cell phone, a man answered and told the station that he had been
"taken by the military." STV's Ingrid Thörnqvist toldthe online Aftonbladet: "He is seriously injured, but the condition is
stable."

The Greek daily newspaper Kathimerini
said its correspondent in Cairo, Petros Papaconstantino, was "briefly
hospitalized with a stab wound to the leg" after an attack by Mubarak
supporters in Tahrir Square, according to The Associated Press. The reporter
wrote on Kathimerini's site: "I
was spotted by Mubarak supporters. They ... beat me with batons on the head and
stabbed me lightly in the leg. Some soldiers intervened, but Mubarak's
supporters took everything I had on me in front of the soldiers." AP also
reported that an unidentified Greek newspaper photographer was punched in the
face.

The Associated Press reported that CBS reporter Mark Strassman and a
camera operator were attacked while trying to photograph people throwing rocks.
Strassman told AP that demonstrators punched and sprayed with Mace his camera
operator, whom he did not identify. "As soon as one started, it was like
blood in the water," he said.

Dima Salem, a reporter for Dubai-based
Al-Arabiya television, was attacked by pro-Mubarak supporters who took her
cameraman's equipment and tried to beat her, the station said. Witnesses helped
them escape, Al-Arabiya reported on the air.

Two Al-Jazeera English journalists were
attacked by Mubarak supporters, the Qatar-based satellite station reported on
the air. Three other network reporters were detained in Cairo, the station
reported. No names were given.

Alfred Yaghobzadeh, a French photographer
working for SIPA Press agency, was beaten while covering street protests, according
to AP, which moved a photo of the journalist being aided by witnesses.

The AP reported that men wielding sticks
disrupted operations and seized satellite equipment at one of its locations.

A BBC producer tweeted that Margaret Evans, a CBC reporter,
was forced to hand over
recording equipment to military forces in Tahrir Square.

At least four Spanish journalists were
attacked in Cairo, according to news reports. Joan Roura, a
correspondent for TV3, a Catalan public television station, was attacked by men
who tried to steal his mobile phone while he was conducting a live broadcast
for the 24 hours news channel. Assaults were also reported against Sal Emergui,
a correspondent for Catalan radio RAC1; Gemma Saura, a correspondent for the newspaper
La Vanguardia; and Mikel Ayestaran, a
correspondent for the newspaper Vocento/ABC.

Several Turkish journalists were attacked by Mubarak supporters, according
to news reports. Cumali Önal of Cihan News Agency and Doğan Ertuğrul of the
Turkish Star Daily were attacked
and beaten by pro-Mubarak supporters on Wednesday. Both were in stable
condition today.

Men with knives seized Erol Candabakoğlu, a Turkish Fox TV reporter, along with his unidentified
cameraman and driver on Wednesday while they were filming in the Boulaq
neighborhood of Cairo, according to news reports. The Turkish news
agency Anatolia reported that Egyptian police later freed them.

Metin Turan, a
reporter for the Turkish state-run TRT channel, was assaulted today and beaten
by Mubarak supporters, who seized his camera, money, and cell phone, according to the Turkish newspaper Today's Zaman. The reporter escaped and
sought refuge at the Turkish Embassy; embassy officials told the
paper they would take Turan to the hospital because he suffered from wounds and
bruises. Isa Simsek, a photographer
for Today's Zaman, was also assaulted
today by a Mubarak supporter, according to news reports.

Wally Nell, a photographer for the
California-based Zuma Press agency, was wounded under the 6th October Bridge at
the Corniche on the Nile in downtown Cairo, according to accounts posted by family and friends. Those accounts
described Zell as having suffered multiple pellet wounds after being fired upon
by police.

At
least four contributors to Demotix, a U.K.-based
citizen journalism website and photo agency, were also attacked, Turi Munthe,
Demotix CEO, told CPJ in an e-mail. The four included Nour El Refai and Mohamed
Elmaymony.

The British-based communications company
Vodafone accused the Egyptian government of hijacking its text messaging
services and sending out text messages supportive of Mubarak, according to news reports.

Multiple journalists for state-owned or
government-aligned media have resigned or have refused to work after the
government put pressure on them to sanitize the news or to not report on
violence against demonstrators, several CPJ sources said. Shahira Amin, an
anchor on the state-owned Nile TV channel, said on the air on another channel: "I refuse to
be a hypocrite. I feel liberated."

EDITOR'S NOTE: The original
version of this alert was extensively updated to include numerous additional
attacks and to provide context.